About five million Canadians use their phone to access the Internet now, and it’s pretty likely that you’re one of them. Why not use it for a good cause – your health! Gone are the days of using phones just for calls. Apps are turning the mobile phone into a tool for health and exercise junkies to use during workouts, dieting and first-aid.
We’ve got the goods on the best health apps to use on your iPhones, Blackberys and Androids so far this year.
Exercise Tracking
iPhone: Haven’t you always wondered how much easier working out would be with your own coach? Look no further than Pocket Coach. This app has daily exercises, a goal calendar, accountability reports and a suggested reading section.
Blackberry: The Total Fitness app is the perfect way to meet exercise goals, track fitness progress with graphs and track nutrition. It even has exercise animation and instructions for the visual learners out there.
Android: The WorkItOut app logs workouts, schedules routines, and tracks the user’s progress.
Running
iPhone: LogYourRun is an app that routes runs, complete with maps and elevation. Along with graphing your run on the company’s website, users can showcase their running on Facebook and Twitter. The app also features training programs, a heart rate monitor and playlist options.
Blackberry and Android: SportyPal is the best kind of running partner you can have. Users can view their workout on a map, set goals, tweet their progress, see their progress on graphs and more.
Working Out
iPhone: The iPump series is a perfect fit for those wanting to try pilates, yoga, stretches, abs and core exercises and cardio workouts. It’s a set of five apps complete with pictures and step-by-step workout directions.
Blackberry: The iFitness app has almost enough unique workouts to fill an entire year. Each workout targets different areas of the body. You can also log workouts, create your own and set goals.
Android: How’s your technique looking? GymTechnik will take you through workouts, use checklists and keep statistics to help with goal setting.
Nutrition
iPhone: With FoodScanner, users can use the camera to scan UPC codes on foods to get nutritional information. They can track their caloric intake, sync with the company’s website for more features and keep a list of favorite foods for quick access.
Blackberry and Android: Calorie Counter has an amazing database for finding nutritional information on foods. It also features a dietary journal and lets users track daily activity and calorie expenditure. The Android version also lets users scan UPC barcodes with the camera.
First Aid
iPhone: First Aid newbies rejoice! Pocket First Aid & CPR from the American Heart Association has instructions for emergency procedures, first aid checklists and other basic training.
Blackberry and Android: The Complete Home First Aid Course app teaches you how to handle heart attacks, poison cases, wounds, shock, CPR, and pretty much any emergency you can think of. The First Aid app for Android is the same deal, along with videos and a handy place to store emergency numbers.
